This montage of video footage touches on some of my core ideas when it comes to organizing and consumer advocacy. I want to thank Fig Media’s Melissa Fox for directing these snippets and for graciously putting these clips together for me.
News Articles & OpEds
Op-Ed Contributor, The Chicago Tribune, “Proposed federal rule targeting the earned-wage access industry would only hurt consumers” (Sept. 12, 2024)
Op-Ed Contributor, The Chicago Tribune, “We must stop predatory rent-a-bank lending in Illinois” (March 5, 2024)
Op-Ed Contributor, Chicago Sun-Times, “Make a final push for fair housing for ex-offenders” (August 21, 2019)
Guest Columnist, Daily Herald, “Illinois Should Embrace a National Rate Cap on Consumer Loans” (December 15, 2019)
Illinois Should Embrace a National Rate Cap on Consumer Loans (Dec. 15, 2019)
Position & Research Papers
Co-author, Illinois’s Predatory Loan Prevention Act: The Impacts of the State’s 36% Rate Cap – The PLPA is Still Working (Feb. 2026)
Co-author, Illinois’s Predatory Loan Prevention Act: The Impacts of the State’s 36% Rate Cap – The PLPA is Working! (Jan. 2024)
Position Paper Supporting Government COVID-19 Countermeasures (October 2022)
Position Paper – Illinois Supreme Court & Supporting Gun Safety Measures (October 2022)
2022 Co-author, Patterns of Disparity: Small Business Lending in Illinois (Aug. 2019)
Letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding Dodd-Frank Section 1017 Rulemaking on Data Collection for Small Business Loans
Other Works Featuring Brent
February 25, 2026: Woodstock Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy Brent Adams on WVON to discuss Woodstock’s new report, “The PLPA Is Still Working; But the Predatory Lenders Strike Back!” (Access the report here.)
Amy Yee, Chicago Sun-Times, “Bill calling for interest rate disclosures on small business loans dies in Illinois House” (May 21, 2024) (quoting Brent).
High-Interest Loans in Chicago Target Black Neighborhoods: Statistical Significance on Steroids’ Shows Payday Borrowers Mostly Lived in Majority-Black ZIP Codes. By Stephanie Zimmermann, Chicago Sun-Times, Nov 26, 2021 (picturing and quoting Brent).
“The push for transparency in small business loans” The 21st Show, will Illinois Public Media. Listen to the segment here.
Presentations
2022 National Community Reinvestment Conference
In 2021, Illinois became the 2nd state to require banks, credit unions, and non-bank mortgage companies to invest in, loan to, and serve the entire community in which they are located. In this video, Brent discusses how Illinois was able to pass a state Community Reinvestment Act but why other states would not necessarily be able to follow the Illinois playbook.
2022 19th Annual High Cost Lending Summit
2022 High Cost Lending Summit. Brent starts around 4:12:35. This is a conversation among advocates about consumer protections in the states. Toward the latter part of the video, I speak to Illinois’s lack of consumer protections when it comes to pawnbrokers, who typically charge 240% APR for loans.
2025 Predatory Inclusion: Debunking the Crypto Hype
In September 2025, Professor Hilary Allen joined Brent Adams for a critical discussion on the emerging harms posed by cryptocurrency’s expansion into the financial system. In this video, Brent explores how the “democratization” of digital assets often mirrors “predatory inclusion,” a practice where harmful financial products are marketed to underserved communities under the guise of progress. Watch the full video.